


act with disgression

by dupesoclock



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of canon typical violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:14:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26517271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dupesoclock/pseuds/dupesoclock
Summary: “Do you need assistance with your small wound there?” If he had the capacity to tell a joke, that would have been it.Still, Crypto found himself laughing - only once, and more of a sharp exhale through his nose than anything else. “Is that your idea of offering?”--just two guys being dudes in the third ring
Relationships: Caustic | Alexander Nox/Crypto | Park Tae Joon
Kudos: 13





	act with disgression

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this as a gift for my friend after he drew me some miroctane which I STILL ADORE BTW... brb crying again
> 
> this was actually from a kissing prompt list, and I have a couple more ships 2 write, so I may post those on here, maybe possibly. i only just got inspo back to write for apex and I have a req on a sideblog of mine, plus work hours have changed so ehhhh.. we'll wait and hope and see.
> 
> tumblr mirror is [here](https://dupesoclock.tumblr.com/post/629543658791845888/act-with-digression), please consider reblogging and spreading my work!!

Round 3. Beginning ring countdown.

Crypto gritted his teeth and pressed his back hard against the walls of the still train, dismantled for parts and discarded on the tracks facing the Harvester. Shaking hands curled around the neck of his Triple Take, staining it with the blood running down his arm and through his coat from a stray bullet that had grazed past him from the enemy squad. They had been taking potshots at each other since the ring had begun closing from last round, their positions remaining safe from the wall of death that closed in around World’s Edge, leaving them at a standstill.

“C’mon, poke your little heads out then. See where that gets you.” From the back of her minigun, Rampart spoke to no one in particular, laser sight aiming for the large door protecting a small inner sanctum from their side of the Harvester, her leg bouncing in its hold from impatience and shaking her aim. Her frown deepened, before she looked up to her side. “Oi, brainiac, got any positioning for me?”

“Uh, ya, I can do that.”

“Well, do it. Sheila ain’t one for waiting, eheh.” She dismounted from the nicknamed minigun, tapping a gloved hand on its barrel as if tapping the shoulder of a friend, before leaning her arm against one of the handles.

The hacker lowered his legs from his chest, the sniper rifle he’d been holding falling limp in his lap as he pulled out a familiar drone from his back-

“It appears they are leaving the area.” Caustic said this with an odd calm, looking into the train from the other side that Rampart had set up her gear. “An estimation of their next set up would be around our other side, in the Sorting Factory.”

She blinked at him, as if forgetting that the scientist completed their trio, before she gave a slow grin, rubbing her hands together. “Ah, dope. You ain’t so bad, doctor man. Right-o, then. Let’s cut ‘em off, shall we, boys?” 

Crypto stared up at Caustic, who through his goggles looked down. Chattering from Rampart was reduced to white noise now, as their eyes locked with one another.

“Do you need assistance with your small wound there?” If he had the capacity to tell a joke, that would have been it. 

Still, Crypto found himself laughing - only once, and more of a sharp exhale through his nose than anything else. “Is that your idea of offering?”

“And is that you asking?”

He gave the man a pointed look, eyebrow raised, making the scientist roll his eyes and get down on one knee. “Oh, careful not to pull your back out there, old man.”

A glare. “I have half a mind to leave you to bleed, when given the chance.” But still, he moved to hold Crypto’s arm, as the hacker watched him inspect the admittedly small graze with a glaze in his eye of expertise. He hummed, holding his elbow in the other hand, and moving his other down the inside of his forearm, resting it on the back of his hand.

Crypto looked up to him again, and for a moment, their eyes met, and behind them, he didn’t see Caustic, but the man outside the arena, who had trouble communicating and attaching to his fellow competitors, who liked plants and puns and, most of all, science, who he’d shared nights of solitude and silence with and enjoyed his company all the same. He swallowed, watching the way his fingers moved to hold his hand, now that no one was watching.

Crypto’s hand was a lot smaller than the Caustic’s, rubber gloves stained with old blood curling around his fingers as he inspected his bruised knuckles (the start of the match had been rough, landing hot meant fighting for your life) with a gentle curiosity, and he could see the fond smile he gave as he pulled down the ventilator of his kit with a quiet sigh. A thumb ran over the bruises in an almost pondering manner, before Caustic brought Crypto’s hand up to his lips, and gently kissed in the middle of his knuckles, rough lips tickling between the dips of bone in a way that Crypto almost laughed. He wasn’t ticklish, and certainly wasn’t the type to ask for such an archaic form of affection… but he wasn’t going to say no either. Especially not to the way that Caustic looked up at him through his eyelashes, eye somehow more vibrant in the dimness of the abandoned train cart.

“Alright, alright, jog on boys. Me and Shiela are all ready to go, let’s not keep ‘em waiting, yeah?” The heavy pat on Caustic’s shoulder caused both of them to jump, as Rampart had somehow snuck into the carriage, her other hand resting on the handle of her minigun, now packed up and strapped to her back, obnoxiously chewing between each word. She looked up to Crypto, mouth twisting into a shit-eating grin as she caught his bright red face, shooting the poor hacker a wink as she chuckled to herself, and began heading towards sorting factory.

You could try to cut the tension she left them with with a knife, though surely the blade would snap from the handle if you did. Neither could look at the other, or speak for a few moments afterwards, before Caustic cleared his throat and began digging into his backpack.

“W-what are-” He paused, coughing as his voice cracked. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t respond until he reached deep into the bag, before placing down a small syringe packet on the floor beside the hacker, then standing to his feet. “Heal yourself and then join us. I’m sure Ms Parekh is… expecting us.”

Crypto watched him shake his head slightly, quickly reattaching his ventilator to his face before he nodded and quickly left the carriage, tension thickening to a suffocating level as he held his own hands, running a finger across his knuckles to the sound of distant gunfire and a call over comms to come and join a third-party push.

And with a small smile on his face, he replied, “Ya, on my way.”


End file.
